Sex Offender Registration & Notification Act: Implementation & Legal Issues

Sex offences are fairly common in the United States and largely go unrecognised and underreported. Studies estimate that about 1 in every 5 girls and 1 in every 7 to 10 boys are sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood, and about 1 in 6 adult women and 1 in 33 adult men experience an attempted or completed sexual assault. In the wake of several tragic attacks in 2005 in which young children were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered, public and congressional attention became increasingly focused on what was described as the growing epidemic of sexual violence against children. Citing a need to address loopholes and deficiencies in individual state registration programs that made it possible for convicted sex offenders to move from one jurisdiction to another and evade registration, in 2006, Congress passed and the President signed the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). This book address to what extent SORNA has been implemented and what challenges jurisdictions face; and its effect on public safety, criminal justice stakeholders, and registered offenders. See more